Moldy food? Or something else?

[Krazy4Chicks]

I normally purchase Nutrena Naturewise Layer Complete Crumble in the 50 lb. bags. I only have a small flock of 5 Silkies, so they don't go thu it very fast. I store the food in one of those Gamma Vittle Vaults (see photo below), which seals it up and keeps it fresh and dry (so I thought). This container is kept in our garage, where it is away from outside elements. However, it has been hot here lately (So. California). I went into the container today to scoop out some food to put into their feeder and found that the food was kind of sticking together in clumps on the sides of the container, as if it's getting moldy or something. It also seems like it smells a little off. How does food get moldy when it's kept in one of these airtight containers? Or is this not mold?

Here's the type of container the food is kept in:

 

[lazy gardener]

According to one of the poultry nutrition experts quoted in The Small-Scale Poultry Flock: An All-Natural Approach to Raising Chickens and Other Fowl for Home and Market Growers by Harvey Ussery, chicken feed over 42 days old is well on it's way to loosing it's nutrients. The oils in processed grains go rancid. I don't expect that even storing it in an air tight container would prevent that.

 

[Krazy4Chicks]

Thanks for your input. I just can't imagine that the food would get moldy in an airtight container like this. I can understand that it can lose its nutrients after a certain length of time. In any event, I will be throwing the food out, as I don't want to take any chances with my sweethearts.

If anyone can give me ideas on the best way to store the crumbles, that would be helpful. It's hard when the only size available at our feed store is 50 lb. sacks and I can't even get thru half of the bag before it goes bad. Maybe o2 absorber packets?? Any ideas??

 

[lazy gardener]

You could try freezing it. Or you could find someone to split a bag with.